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South Tech Academy opens middle school charter with 90 students

South Tech Academy, longtime charter school in Boynton Beach that was converted from a district-run school in 2004, today starting branching out into lower grades by opening a new charter for middle schoolers.

The South Tech Preparatory Academy, located in seven portable classrooms on the east side of the existing campus, opened with 90 eighth graders on its first day of school today, said Academy Principal Priscilla Maloney.

The charter school, which can hold a maximum of 154 students, will expand to offer a seventh grade next school year and a sixth grade for the 2015-2016 school year, Maloney said. It will also move from the portable classrooms to a campus of its own next year, she said.

Maloney roamed her campus on a golf cart this morning, overseeing what she said was a smooth start to classes. She said the middle school is offering middle schoolers academy programs studying technology, medical sciences, hospitality and what she called “power mobility” which includes things like auto body repair.

The new charter school is also offering an elective class this year which Maloney called the “rock and roll academy”. This music study program in jazz and rock and roll was modeled after a similar program in Telluride, Colo., Maloney said, and the middle school plans to expand the class into a full-fledged music academy program that students who choose the charter school could attend.